Business awards: Week of May 20

■ Mary C. Noble, Deputy Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, has been named Judge of the Year, and Mitchell A. Charney of Goldberg & Simpson, has received the Raising the Bar Award from the Kentucky Chapter of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. These awards recognize contributions to the improvement of the practice of family law in Kentucky.

■ University Press of Kentucky author James C. Nicholson has received the Southern Kentucky Book Fest's Kentucky Literary Award for his book The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event. First awarded in 2003, the Kentucky Literary Award recognizes excellence in Kentucky literature. Eligible books include those written by Kentuckians or books with a substantial Kentucky theme.

■ The Kentucky District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration has named the following winners for 2013: Mehdi Yazdanpanah, CEO and founder of NaugaNeedles in Louisville, has been named the SBA 2013 Kentucky Small Business Person of the Year by the Kentucky District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

NaugaNeedles produces nanoneedles, tiny needle-like rods about 1/1,000th of the thickness of a human hair. Yazdanpanah trademarked the product and formed his company in 2007. NaugaNeedles' devices are being used by more than 150 research groups around the world.

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Other small business advocates recognized by SBA's Kentucky district office include: Donna Smith, owner of Donna J. Smith & Co. and co-owner of Stivers & Associates, Lexington, has been named the 2013 Kentucky Financial Services Advocate of the Year; Dee Dee Harbut, special programs director for the Kentucky SBDC Network, Lexington, has been named the 2013 Kentucky Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year; PatriciaKrausman, director, University of Kentucky SBDC, Elizabethtown, has been named the 2013 Kentucky Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year; and Joyce Green, owner, Jordan Hill Farms and Karizma, and one of the founders of Business Babes Society, Richmond, has been named the 2013 Kentucky Women Business Advocate of the Year. Kentucky winners will be honored locally at the Kentucky Celebrates Small Businesses event May 22 in Frankfort.